EXTRA police work has been dialled up in Winsford and Middlewich - thanks to mobile phone owners who have helped increase emergency calls across Cheshire by almost 10 per cent.

A report released by Cheshire Constabulary shows that between January and April 1998 the force received a total of 27,601 emergency calls compared to 25,132 in the same period of 1997.

Police believe an upsurge in mobile phone ownership has triggered the impressive response by members of the public to emergency situations.

Of these calls 90.8 per cent were answered within 15 seconds, meeting the national police objective. Other targets Winsford and Middlewich police are aiming to meet under the national policing plan include:

Attending 90 per cent of incidents requiring immediate response within 15 minutes.

Satisfying 90 per cent of people making an emergency call with the level of service provided.

Cheshire chief constable Nigel Burgess said: "Call management continues to improve, and immediate response performance is consistently above target.

"Similarly, the availability of uniformed and special constables remains high."

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